NTE

Thinking of moving on from ADSL to FTTC. But in a time of corona with no engineer home visits I am wondering if my NTE is suitable for VDSL. Will I need to change my faceplate which I think I got from ADSL Nation ?
https://imgur.com/eFfV0wE

Happy to do this myself but will I then be unable to persuade the new ISP that my instal will be compatible?

There are no engineer visits for FTTC installation if there is an existing working phone line. That faceplate will be fine for VDSL, just plug your modem/router in. You could get a new faceplate but it probably isn't necessary. The broadband signal is directly connected, only the phone socket is filtered.

In reply to a post by jaba:

Thinking of moving on from ADSL to FTTC. But in a time of corona with no engineer home visits I am wondering if my NTE is suitable for VDSL. Will I need to change my faceplate which I think I got from ADSL Nation ?
https://imgur.com/eFfV0wE

Yeah that's fine, but like Realalemadrid has already said there will be no Engineer visits atm as you are probably already aware.

I say just try it and if there is any issues then try the other one.

Also if you have a micro filter try that in the test socket (remove adsl face plate) that way you will be able to see what speed you should get if you have good internal wiring, once the test is done then put the face plate back on and retest, they should both give the same result give or take.

In reply to a post by jaba:

Happy to do this myself but will I then be unable to persuade the new ISP that my instal will be compatible?

I have in the past changed the entire internal wiring right back to the BT80 Junction Box this was to rule out any internal wiring, plus was to rectify the badly done job the Kelly's engineer did a few years before.

Caution BT gets very angry when you do this and any damages you cause to their hardware / infrastructure you will have to pay, but you are allowed to remove the face plates on the NTE Master Socket right up to and only up to the back box and its back plate.

Here is an image of all the sections of a complete BT NTE5A Master Socket, these are starting to get hard to get now due to the NTE5C..

But like I said just try it you might be fine and just change the xDSL Filter and any internal wiring (if not needed) and try again.

Also please be careful when removing the faceplates, wires may be tangled up and the main phone cables might come off and I would hate for that to happen at this current time.

Paul

Edited by PaulKirby (Tue 31-Mar-20 10:10:19)

There is no point whatsoever replacing the NTE5. To be frankly honest the VDSL signal is at a higher frequency than the ADSL signal so if it filters for ADSL it filters for VDSL.

You could if you still have the original removable bottom half of the NTE5 get a MK3 VDSL iPlate. They are about £10 on eBay by the looks of it. However the benefits of doing so are minimal to none existent.

The main thing is that the iPlate disconnects the bell/ring wire. You can however just remove the existing filter plate and disconnect it yourself. Might get you some extra speed depending on how far from the cabinet you are.

The main thing is that the iPlate disconnects the bell/ring wire. You can however just remove the existing filter plate and disconnect it yourself.

No, if moving to VDSL, the main attribute of a faceplate filter is that it stops a bridge tap.

VDSL DLM perceives a bridge tap , and the errors it causes as an issue and will slow down the sync rate in an attempt to stabilise the circuit.

Homer Simpson moment coming right up

Duh, he already has a faceplate filter just one of the older ADSL models.

So in this situation all a more modern faceplate filter will do is disconnect the bell/ring wire. Something that can be achieved without replacing the NTE5 or even the faceplate filter by simply disconnecting it on the existing faceplate filter.

Consequently no impediment to switching to VDSL, especially in the current situation.

Like I said if they are really bothered just get the MK3 iplate on eBay for £10 and replace the existing filter but that would require still having the bottom part, which you can probably get on eBay too (I have not looked). Regardless there is no need for an NTE5 replacement.

There’s an RFI filter in the modern SSFP’s too.

It looks to me as if there is an iPlate behind the ADSL faceplate. A bit of a mess.

Thanks for all the info. Good to know that my faceplate will work with vdsl. There is no ring wire connected anywhere, only pins 2 and 5. I removed the ring wire 10 or 15 years back when I could only get 500kbps. So I am good to go.
Question now is do I want to risk a change of ISP given the current levels of pandemic level support if things go wrong.

I say, go for it ... it really isn’t difficult, just plug in the new router on the day it’s due to go live .... when it’s working, use the new service.

The bulk of issues faced are around incorrect set up, and you’ve covered those potential issues here already.